In the UK, the widespread presence of elemental contaminants such as arsenic and nickel in contam... more In the UK, the widespread presence of elemental contaminants such as arsenic and nickel in contaminated sites and more widely release of platinum group metals into the biosphere are growing concerns. Phytoremediation has the potential to treat land contaminated with these elements at low cost. An integrated approach combining land remediation with post-process biomass to energy conversion and high value element recovery is proposed to enhance the financial viability of phytoremediation. An analytical review of plant species suitable for the phytoremediation of nickel, Arsenic and platinum group metals is reported. Additionally, a preliminary model is developed to assess the viability of the proposed approach. A feasibility appraisal using Monte Carlo simulation to analyse project risk suggests high biomass yield plant species can significantly increase the confidence of achieving financial return from the project. The order of financial return from recovering elements was found to be: Ni > Pt > As.
Product service systems (PSS) are cleaner product concepts which have been developed to achieve i... more Product service systems (PSS) are cleaner product concepts which have been developed to achieve improvements in resource productivity which may be realized from modern trends in service delivery. However, there is a paucity of research on the waste prevention performance of PSS in UK household markets. This paper reports the findings of exploratory research which begins to address this gap in knowledge. An exploratory waste prevention assessment was completed on four experimental PSS which were developed in conjunction with a major UK house-builder for delivery on their new housing developments. The results of the assessment show that the selected PSS concepts have potential to prevent high value and harmful Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) arising in UK household waste streams. Consistent with the canon of exploratory research, the assessment also identifies a number of factors which are thought to influence PSS waste prevention performance. It is recognized that further research is needed to gain an in-depth understanding of these factors as well as to define policy measures which enable the conditions in which PSS prevent household waste on new housing developments in the UK to be created.
Home page of UWE Bristol. Login |, Microbial and endotoxin emission from composting facilities: C... more Home page of UWE Bristol. Login |, Microbial and endotoxin emission from composting facilities: Characterisation of release and dispersal patterns. ... Deposited On: 15 Jul 2010 13:27. Last Modified: 19 Jul 2010 09:48. Repository Staff Only: item control page. ...
ABSTRACT This paper assesses the dispersion of odour from a waste transfer station in the North L... more ABSTRACT This paper assesses the dispersion of odour from a waste transfer station in the North London area, UK. The basic models used for analysing the extent of dispersion were UK-ADMS (version 1.5) and US-EPA's MPTER (A Multiple Point Gaussian Dispersion Algorithm with Optional Terrain Adjustment). The two models have been extensively run for various meteorological conditions and source values based on site measurements. It has been observed that the two models compare very well at distances downwind greater than 500 m within a range of 29.0% to 40.0% up to 3.0 km. The two models differ substantially near the source; the physics of UK-ADMS representing the scenario better close to the source. The results indicate that with a wind velocity of 5.0 m s−1 the mean odour level, in odour units (ou), can fall down sharply from 1695.0 ou m−3 at the source to 0.5 ou m−3 at about 1.5 km from the source along the centreline.A dynamic dilution olfactometer with six panellists was used to characterize the odour strength of the source. Simultaneously, an intensity test was used to assess the number of times the odour would need to be diluted to achieve a reasonable expectation of ‘no complaints’ from the site operations. Measurements of intensity were determined by a ‘sniffing’ panel using a subjective scale (usually 0 to 6) from very faint to very strong. It has been observed that the emitted odour intensity reduces from a distinct odour to a faint odour as the odour concentration decrease from 10 to 4 ou m−3 and these levels are greatly exceeded at the point of emission. According to calculations, an odour intensity of 6 ou m−3 averaged for 15 min could be expected up to a distance of 470.0 m downwind along with a crosswind spread of + 80.0 m to – 80.0 m about a source of strength 1695.0 ou m−3 and average wind velocity of 5 m s−1.
An experimental study was undertaken to assess the suitability of an image-based approach for det... more An experimental study was undertaken to assess the suitability of an image-based approach for determining the physical composition of mixed wastes. Waste samples were investigated at six different waste sorting facilities each visited twice during the study. These materials were physically sorted to examine the composition of these materials; during each of these surveys the waste was also processed to obtain digital images covering an area of 30 m(2), representing approximately 250-500 kg (3× mechanical bucket loads) of mixed waste. The images were processed using ERDAS Imagine software to assess the area covered by each component within the waste material. The composition determined from the image analysis was compared with results from the physical hand sorting. The image analysis results indicated a strong correlation with the physical results (mean r=0.91), however it was evident that components such as film plastics and paper were being over-estimated by the image analysis approach. This manuscript provides initial results, demonstrating the potential of an image-based method, and discusses further research requirements and future applications of this technique.
An enhanced methodology for the policy-level prioritization of intervention options during carcas... more An enhanced methodology for the policy-level prioritization of intervention options during carcass disposal is presented. Pareto charts provide a semiquantitative analysis of opportunities for multiple exposures to human health, animal health, and the wider environment during carcass disposal; they identify critical control points for risk management and assist in waste technology assessment. Eighty percent of the total availability of more than 1300 potential exposures to human, animal, or environmental receptors is represented by 16 processes, these being dominated by on-farm collection and carcass processing, reinforcing the criticality of effective controls during early stages of animal culling and waste processing. Exposures during mass burials are dominated by ground- and surface-water exposures with noise and odor nuisance prevalent for mass pyres, consistent with U.K. experience. Pareto charts are discussed in the context of other visualization formats for policy officials and promoted as a communication tool for informing the site-specific risk assessments required during the operational phases of exotic disease outbreaks.
Disposal of plant biomass removed from heavy metal contaminated land via gasification achieves si... more Disposal of plant biomass removed from heavy metal contaminated land via gasification achieves significant volume reduction and can recover energy. However, these biomass often contain high concentrations of heavy metals leading to hot-corrosion of gasification facilities and toxic gaseous emissions. Therefore, it is of significant interest to gain a further understanding of the solid–gas phase transition of metal(loid)s during gasification. Detailed elemental analyses (C, H, O, N and keymetal/metalloid elements)were performed on five plant species collected from a contaminated site. Using multi-phase equilibria modelling software (MTDATA), the analytical data allows modelling of the solid/gas transformation of metal(loid)s during gasification. Thermodynamic modelling based on chemical equilibrium calculations was carried out in this study to predict the fate of metal(loid) elements during typical gasification conditions and to show how these are influenced by metal(loid) composition in the biomass and operational conditions. As, Cd, Zn and Pb tend to transform to their gaseous forms at relatively low temperatures (<1000 °C). Ni, Cu, Mn and Co converts to gaseous forms within the typical gasification temperature range of 1000–1200 °C. Whereas Cr, Al, Fe and Mg remain in solid phase at higher temperatures (>1200 °C). Simulation of pressurised gasification conditions shows that higher pressures increase the temperature at which solid-to-gaseous phase transformations takes place.
In the UK, the widespread presence of elemental contaminants such as arsenic and nickel in contam... more In the UK, the widespread presence of elemental contaminants such as arsenic and nickel in contaminated sites and more widely release of platinum group metals into the biosphere are growing concerns. Phytoremediation has the potential to treat land contaminated with these elements at low cost. An integrated approach combining land remediation with post-process biomass to energy conversion and high value element recovery is proposed to enhance the financial viability of phytoremediation. An analytical review of plant species suitable for the phytoremediation of nickel, Arsenic and platinum group metals is reported. Additionally, a preliminary model is developed to assess the viability of the proposed approach. A feasibility appraisal using Monte Carlo simulation to analyse project risk suggests high biomass yield plant species can significantly increase the confidence of achieving financial return from the project. The order of financial return from recovering elements was found to be: Ni &gt; Pt &gt; As.
Product service systems (PSS) are cleaner product concepts which have been developed to achieve i... more Product service systems (PSS) are cleaner product concepts which have been developed to achieve improvements in resource productivity which may be realized from modern trends in service delivery. However, there is a paucity of research on the waste prevention performance of PSS in UK household markets. This paper reports the findings of exploratory research which begins to address this gap in knowledge. An exploratory waste prevention assessment was completed on four experimental PSS which were developed in conjunction with a major UK house-builder for delivery on their new housing developments. The results of the assessment show that the selected PSS concepts have potential to prevent high value and harmful Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) arising in UK household waste streams. Consistent with the canon of exploratory research, the assessment also identifies a number of factors which are thought to influence PSS waste prevention performance. It is recognized that further research is needed to gain an in-depth understanding of these factors as well as to define policy measures which enable the conditions in which PSS prevent household waste on new housing developments in the UK to be created.
Home page of UWE Bristol. Login |, Microbial and endotoxin emission from composting facilities: C... more Home page of UWE Bristol. Login |, Microbial and endotoxin emission from composting facilities: Characterisation of release and dispersal patterns. ... Deposited On: 15 Jul 2010 13:27. Last Modified: 19 Jul 2010 09:48. Repository Staff Only: item control page. ...
ABSTRACT This paper assesses the dispersion of odour from a waste transfer station in the North L... more ABSTRACT This paper assesses the dispersion of odour from a waste transfer station in the North London area, UK. The basic models used for analysing the extent of dispersion were UK-ADMS (version 1.5) and US-EPA&#39;s MPTER (A Multiple Point Gaussian Dispersion Algorithm with Optional Terrain Adjustment). The two models have been extensively run for various meteorological conditions and source values based on site measurements. It has been observed that the two models compare very well at distances downwind greater than 500 m within a range of 29.0% to 40.0% up to 3.0 km. The two models differ substantially near the source; the physics of UK-ADMS representing the scenario better close to the source. The results indicate that with a wind velocity of 5.0 m s−1 the mean odour level, in odour units (ou), can fall down sharply from 1695.0 ou m−3 at the source to 0.5 ou m−3 at about 1.5 km from the source along the centreline.A dynamic dilution olfactometer with six panellists was used to characterize the odour strength of the source. Simultaneously, an intensity test was used to assess the number of times the odour would need to be diluted to achieve a reasonable expectation of ‘no complaints’ from the site operations. Measurements of intensity were determined by a ‘sniffing’ panel using a subjective scale (usually 0 to 6) from very faint to very strong. It has been observed that the emitted odour intensity reduces from a distinct odour to a faint odour as the odour concentration decrease from 10 to 4 ou m−3 and these levels are greatly exceeded at the point of emission. According to calculations, an odour intensity of 6 ou m−3 averaged for 15 min could be expected up to a distance of 470.0 m downwind along with a crosswind spread of + 80.0 m to – 80.0 m about a source of strength 1695.0 ou m−3 and average wind velocity of 5 m s−1.
An experimental study was undertaken to assess the suitability of an image-based approach for det... more An experimental study was undertaken to assess the suitability of an image-based approach for determining the physical composition of mixed wastes. Waste samples were investigated at six different waste sorting facilities each visited twice during the study. These materials were physically sorted to examine the composition of these materials; during each of these surveys the waste was also processed to obtain digital images covering an area of 30 m(2), representing approximately 250-500 kg (3× mechanical bucket loads) of mixed waste. The images were processed using ERDAS Imagine software to assess the area covered by each component within the waste material. The composition determined from the image analysis was compared with results from the physical hand sorting. The image analysis results indicated a strong correlation with the physical results (mean r=0.91), however it was evident that components such as film plastics and paper were being over-estimated by the image analysis approach. This manuscript provides initial results, demonstrating the potential of an image-based method, and discusses further research requirements and future applications of this technique.
An enhanced methodology for the policy-level prioritization of intervention options during carcas... more An enhanced methodology for the policy-level prioritization of intervention options during carcass disposal is presented. Pareto charts provide a semiquantitative analysis of opportunities for multiple exposures to human health, animal health, and the wider environment during carcass disposal; they identify critical control points for risk management and assist in waste technology assessment. Eighty percent of the total availability of more than 1300 potential exposures to human, animal, or environmental receptors is represented by 16 processes, these being dominated by on-farm collection and carcass processing, reinforcing the criticality of effective controls during early stages of animal culling and waste processing. Exposures during mass burials are dominated by ground- and surface-water exposures with noise and odor nuisance prevalent for mass pyres, consistent with U.K. experience. Pareto charts are discussed in the context of other visualization formats for policy officials and promoted as a communication tool for informing the site-specific risk assessments required during the operational phases of exotic disease outbreaks.
Disposal of plant biomass removed from heavy metal contaminated land via gasification achieves si... more Disposal of plant biomass removed from heavy metal contaminated land via gasification achieves significant volume reduction and can recover energy. However, these biomass often contain high concentrations of heavy metals leading to hot-corrosion of gasification facilities and toxic gaseous emissions. Therefore, it is of significant interest to gain a further understanding of the solid–gas phase transition of metal(loid)s during gasification. Detailed elemental analyses (C, H, O, N and keymetal/metalloid elements)were performed on five plant species collected from a contaminated site. Using multi-phase equilibria modelling software (MTDATA), the analytical data allows modelling of the solid/gas transformation of metal(loid)s during gasification. Thermodynamic modelling based on chemical equilibrium calculations was carried out in this study to predict the fate of metal(loid) elements during typical gasification conditions and to show how these are influenced by metal(loid) composition in the biomass and operational conditions. As, Cd, Zn and Pb tend to transform to their gaseous forms at relatively low temperatures (<1000 °C). Ni, Cu, Mn and Co converts to gaseous forms within the typical gasification temperature range of 1000–1200 °C. Whereas Cr, Al, Fe and Mg remain in solid phase at higher temperatures (>1200 °C). Simulation of pressurised gasification conditions shows that higher pressures increase the temperature at which solid-to-gaseous phase transformations takes place.
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Papers by Philip Longhurst
Detailed elemental analyses (C, H, O, N and keymetal/metalloid elements)were performed on five plant species collected from a contaminated site. Using multi-phase equilibria modelling software (MTDATA), the analytical data allows modelling of the solid/gas transformation of metal(loid)s during gasification.
Thermodynamic modelling based on chemical equilibrium calculations was carried out in this study to predict the fate of metal(loid) elements during typical gasification conditions and to show how these are influenced by metal(loid) composition in the biomass and operational conditions. As, Cd, Zn and Pb tend to transform to their gaseous forms at relatively low temperatures (<1000 °C). Ni, Cu, Mn and Co converts to gaseous forms within the typical gasification temperature range of 1000–1200 °C. Whereas Cr, Al, Fe and Mg remain in solid phase at higher temperatures (>1200 °C). Simulation of pressurised gasification conditions shows that higher pressures increase the temperature at which solid-to-gaseous phase transformations takes place.
Detailed elemental analyses (C, H, O, N and keymetal/metalloid elements)were performed on five plant species collected from a contaminated site. Using multi-phase equilibria modelling software (MTDATA), the analytical data allows modelling of the solid/gas transformation of metal(loid)s during gasification.
Thermodynamic modelling based on chemical equilibrium calculations was carried out in this study to predict the fate of metal(loid) elements during typical gasification conditions and to show how these are influenced by metal(loid) composition in the biomass and operational conditions. As, Cd, Zn and Pb tend to transform to their gaseous forms at relatively low temperatures (<1000 °C). Ni, Cu, Mn and Co converts to gaseous forms within the typical gasification temperature range of 1000–1200 °C. Whereas Cr, Al, Fe and Mg remain in solid phase at higher temperatures (>1200 °C). Simulation of pressurised gasification conditions shows that higher pressures increase the temperature at which solid-to-gaseous phase transformations takes place.